Nanotechnology-As antibacterial and heavy metal removal in waste water treatment-A review

• Main Authors: M., Sudeep, Moses, Vinutha
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural wastes; Developing countries; Drinking water; Heavy metals; Human wastes; Income; LDCs; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Sanitation services; Wastewater treatment; Water consumption; Water treatment
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5079026

‘Water, water everywhere but not a drop of water to drink’ was the situation then but now it is almost same except that ‘people, people everywhere and no water left to drink’. The world is facing severe water crisis and the worst hit people are the population of the developing countries like India. Today, agricultural water consumption is at 38% with 32% agricultural drainage. Municipal water consumption stands at 3% and civil waste water generation is 8%. In the decades to come, the water demand is predicted to increase significantly. Agrarian division is as of now in charge of 70% of water deliberations around the world. In addition to this, significant increase in thirst for water is predicted, particularly for industry and energy production. On an average, high-income countries treat about 70% of the wastewater they generate, while that proportion reaches below to 38% in upper middle-income countries and to 28% in lower middle-income countries. In low-income countries, only 8% of industrial and municipal wastewater is subjected to treatment of any kind. This further aggravates the situation for the poor, particularly in slums, who are often directly exposed to untreated wastewater due to a lack of water and sanitation services (UN Report 2017). This also calls for innovative and more efficient water treatment technology that not only treats water but also makes it potable for human consumption. Conventional waste water treatment technologies are able to convert waste water into water suitable for agriculture and associated purposes rather than drinking. Hence there is a need for improving the efficacies of available water treatment methods to make water fit for drinking besides the use of novel treatment technologies. This study presents a review on the use of nanoparticles as chief water treatment precursors, advantages of application of nanotechnology in wastewater treatment over conventional methodologies along with focus on the disadvantages inherent with the use of nanotechnology for waste water treatment.